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UK government weighs Tesla's Model S for its £5 million electric vehicle fleet

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Despite costing £17,000 ($29,000) per car more than it budgeted, the UK government is weighing the purchase of Model S EVs for its fleet, according to Tesla. In an effort to go green, the UK said it wants to buy 150 electric cars for government mucky-mucks, following the lead of China, which mandated that 30 percent of its fleet must run on electrons. Unfortunately, the budget is £5 million ($8.5 million) for all 150 cars, or about £33,000 per vehicle -- and the Tesla Model S currently runs about £50,000 ($85,000) in the UK. That compares to about £30,000 for BMW's i3 (excluding the gas-powered range extender), another likely competitor. However, the Tesla has one large advantage: it can run about 250 miles on a charge, where the BMW can only go 81 miles. As Bidness Etc put it, that's at least two round trips between PM David Cameron's country retreat and his 10 Downing Street workplace -- though we imagine he'll stick with the armored Jag anyway.

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